Heel-blank-grooving machine



D. O. MARSHALL HEEL BLANK enoovme MACHINE Filged May 14, 1927 l N VEN 7'0 72 DA wk! 0. Mara/1a.

4 TTORNE as Patented Oct. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID o. MARSHALL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO MOUNI) CITY woon HEEL AND MFG. (30,015 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

HEEL-BLANK-GROOVING MACHINE.

Application filed May 14,

This invention relates to heel grooving machines of the type commonly referred to as push groovers, which are used in the manufacture of Louis heels, or French heels, for womens shoes. Grooving machines of the kind referred to comprise a rotatable cutter, composed of a head attached to a horizontally-disposed, rotatable shaft and equipped with a plurality of blades, and a heel blank carrier arranged to move horizontally in a straight path at right angles to the axis of the cutter, the carrier generally being arranged. in a higher horizontal plane than the cutter, and the heel blank being mounted in such a position that when the carrier is moved forwardly to present the heel blank to the cutter, the blades of the cutter will pass transversely through the breast portion of the blank, and thus cut a groove in same extending from the lower end or top lift portion of the heel to a point in close proximity to the upper end or seat portion of the heck A change. in the con tour or outline of the cutting edges of the blades .of the cutter produces a change in the shape of the breast face of the heel, longitudinally of the heel, but the breast face is always straight, transversely of the heel or across the width of the heel; due to the fact that the heel blank moves in a straight path, while the blades of the cutter are passing transversely through the same.

One object of my invention is to provide a practicable machine of simple design for grooving a heel blank so as to produce a breast face whose vertical center line is located at a point in advance of the side edges of the breast face, said breast face being of angle shape or convex form, trans versely of the heel or across the width of the heel.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a front elevational view of my improved heel blank grooving machine.

Figure 2 is an enlarged end view of said machine.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a wood heel blank of the kind that is used in my improved machine.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of said blank after it has been grooved; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the finished heel.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one form of my invention, A designates a 1927. Serial No. 191443.

rotatable cutter equipped with a plurality of blades 1 and secured to the end of a horizontally-disposed shaft 2 which can be driven by any suitable means. A heel blank carrier B that is adapted to be moved in a path at right angles to the axis of the cutter A is arranged adjacent said cutter, so as to cause the cutter to form a groove in the breast portion of the heel blank 00 that is mounted on the carrier. Any suitable means maybe used for sustaining the heel blank so in oper ative position on the carrier, said carrier can be of any preferred construction, and it can either be operated manually or by power. In the machine herein shown the carrier is equipped with clamps 3 between which the heel blank 00 is set in such a position that. the heel breast portion of said blank will travel through the path described by the blades 1 of the cutter when the carrier is moved forwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, the carrier being slidingly mounted on a horizontallydisposed. cylindrical guide 4- that passes freely through a round hole in the rear side of the carrier, and being provided with rollers 5 that travel on a horizontally-disposed track 6 arranged parallel to the guide 4.

In order that the blades of the cutter will I form a groove in the blank 00 whose face is convexed or composed of angularly-disposed surfaces, I'provide means for causing the carrier B to rock upwardly and downwardly about the guide 4 as an axis during the time the cutter is passing through the blank, thereby causing the blank to move gradually on an are away from the cutter and then move gradually on an are back towards the cutter during the reciprocating movement of the carrier. Said means is herein illustrated as consisting of two cams 7 carried by the track 6 and arranged so that they will co-operate with the rollers 5 on the carrier to cause the carrier to gradually rock upwardly about the guide 4 when the cutter starts acting on the blank w, thus forming an inclined surface 100 on the blank, and thereafter rock downwardly gradually after the cutter has out half through the blank, thus forming an oppositely-inclined surface 101 on the blank, said surfaces 100 and 101 ccoperating with each other to form a sub stantially inverted V-shaped breast face on the blank. A change in shape of the cams 7 produces a corresponding change in the.

shape of the transverse face of the groove produced by the cutter, but the cams will always be of such shape that the vertical center line of the breast face of the blank will be located at a point in advance of the side edges of said breast face. While I prefer to move the carrier relatively to the cutter in order to obtain the effect previously described, it will be obvious that the same effect could be obtained by bodily moving the cutter relatively to the blank while the cutter is passing through the blank.

After the blank has been grooved so as to produce the oppositely-inclined surfaces 100 and 101 that constitute the breast face of the heel, the blank is finished in any preferred manner, so as to form a Louis heel of the kind shown in Figure 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for grooving heel blanks, comprising a rotatable cutter and a heel blank carrier adapted to move relatively to each other so as to cause the cutter to form a transverse groove in the breast portion of the blank, and means for producing relative rocking movement in an are between the blank and the cutter during the grooving operation in a direction to form a breast face whose vertical center line is located at a point in advance of the side edges of said breast face.

2. A machine for grooving heel blanks, comprising a rotatable cutter, a heel blank carrier adapted to move in a path at right angles to the axis of the cutter, means on said carrier for sustaining a heel blank in such a position that the cutter will pass transversely through the breast portion of the blank, and means for gradually moving the blank on an arc away from the cutter and thereafter gradually moving the blank on an arc back towards the cutter during the cutting operation, for the purpose described.

3. A machine for grooving heel blanks, comprising a rotatable cutter, a heel blank carrier adapted to move in a path at right angles to the axis of the cutter, means on said carrier for sustaining a heel blank in such a position that the cutter will pass transversely through the breast portion of the blank, and means for rocking the carrier on an axis disposed parallel to the path of movement of the carrier and at one side of the cutter so as to raise and lower the blank relatively to the cutter during the cutting operation.

i. A machine for grooving heel blanks, comprising a rotatable cutter, a heel blank carrier adapted to be moved in a path at right angles to the axis of the cutter, means on said carrier for holding a heel blank in a position to cause the cutter to pass transversely through the breast portion of the blank during the movement of the carrier in a straight line, a guide arranged parallel to the path of movement of the carrier on which the carrier is slidingly and oscillatingly mounted, rollers on the carrier, and cams arranged in the path of travel of the carrier and adapted to co-operate with said rollers to swing the heel blank on an arc first away from the cutter and thereafter back towards the cutter during the cutting operation.

DAVID O. MARSHALL. 

